Every year, Black Friday becomes bigger and better for shoppers and one of the most important times of the year in the marketing calendar.
In 2019, the UK spent a massive £5.6 billion on Black Friday sales and it is a perfect opportunity to promote your business!
Whether or not you already have your Black Friday campaign’s ready to go, I’ve put together some of my favourites over the years that may give you some inspiration for Black Friday or your next marketing campaign.
$5 Increase
The famous card game company, Cards Against Humanity are best known for pulling pranks on Black Friday.
In 2013, they raised the price of their game by $5, in 2014 they bought enough pasteurised manure to fill 30,00 boxes of “bullshit”.
In 2016, they collected donations to dig a hole and offered people the chance to buy nothing for $5.
Black Friday was a good opportunity for Cards Against Humanity to create a stir by doing something completely random ensuring they create publicity for their brand.
CAH’s satirical tone of voice and witty humour is what sets them apart, and it’s a clever way of marketing to their target audience.
The 2013 campaign did so well that they made a profit of $71,145 which they donated to different charities and split between their staff.
Pie Giveaway
In 2020, Pieminister, the award-winning pie shop, chose to give their spare stock away in return for donations to a well-known homeless charity.
Their campaign, “Black Pie Day” saw them open pop-up shops throughout the country selling pies in return for donations to the shelter.
Pieminister raised £3,600 for the charity and found a good way to discard their overstock. Their use of social media hashtags #littleactofpieness and #blackpieday promoted the campaign and saw great brand awareness.
Feeding hungry customers whilst giving back to the community – what a great campaign.
Buy Less, Demand More
Patagonia, known for its outdoor clothing, dedicated its 2020 campaign to the topic of protecting the environment.
Pulling away from conventional Black Friday campaigns, the company wrote a reversible poem to raise awareness about the urgent need on saving the planet.
With Black Friday being one of the biggest shopping events of the year, there was no better time to remind consumers of the importance of buying less. The poem can be read highlighting the state of the world but in reverse, and it’s a call to action.
The campaign, promoted via video and a full page in the New York Times, created a social buzz and generated over 10 million in sales.
8p Dress Deal
Originally launched as an accessories-only website, Pretty Little Thing has rapidly grown into one of the favourite and most well-known online fashion brands.
In 2020, Pretty Little Thing got people talking with their 8p dress deal. Throughout the Black Friday week, the company hosted its 99 per cent off sale where they sold clothing items for as little as 8p.
This campaign came as a complete surprise to consumers with the hashtag #PinkPLTFriday trending across social media. The spontaneity and shock factor brought people to Twitter, allowing the Pretty Little Thing sale to be freely promoted online.
PLT became the talk of the fashion world that weekend and took centre stage for Black Friday with both positive and negative press- their brand was smothered across social media and newspapers, with a huge online presence.
All marketing is good marketing, right?
Early Access
In 2017, Steve Madden launched its Black Friday deals through social media, collecting email addresses to notify subscribers about upcoming Black Friday deals.
A simple but effective way of marketing, early discounts and sales make shoppers feel like VIPs, and it creates a sense of urgency causing customers to take advantage of the deals before they’re made available to other shoppers.
According to campaignmonitor.com, marketers have found a 760% increase in email revenue from segmented campaigns.
Email marketing still remains an effective channel at driving purchases, especially through Black Friday.
Whether you’re looking for fun ideas for Black Friday or new ways to improve your marketing campaigns, I hope this blog gave you some inspiration to apply to your business to make it stand out.
To make an impact, here are some key takeaways for you to keep in mind:
- Stay true to your brand values
- Leverage email marketing
- Don’t be afraid to think outside the box
- Utilise hashtags and get customers involved on social media
- Offer incentives, discounts or benefits to your consumers
- Tease your campaign
- And most importantly…make it fun!
Need help with your 2021 Black Friday marketing strategy? Get in touch with our team today. Drop us an email at hello@brace.co.uk or give us a call on 01452 729 953. We look forward to working with you.
